Sri Lankan War Is Over

Slaying Of Tamil Leader Marks End Of Rebellion

May 19, 2009|By Mark Magnier Tribune Newspapers

NEW DELHI — Reclusive Tamil Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran had narrowly escaped death several times during the last three decades even as his obsession with security ensured that untold other assassins never got close.

But on Monday, in northern Sri Lanka, the 54-year-old leader's luck ran out. According to Sri Lankan government reports, he was killed along with two top aides as they tried to escape in an ambulance during the final throes of fighting between Sri Lanka's military and the ethnic militant group. The government quickly declared victory in its quarter-century war against the Tigers, who sought a homeland for marginalized Tamils in the Sinhalese-majority nation.

As news of the legendary leader's death spread over the island, Sinhalese civilians danced, sang and lighted fireworks.

But some within the Tamil community, which accounts for 12 percent of the island's 20 million population, were less enthused, wary that the sense of nationalist triumphalism could spark acts of vengeance. .

Ruthless, focused and innovative, Prabhakaran built the Tigers in his image. The group grew from little more than a street gang into one of the world's most successful militant operations.

At its peak, the Tigers controlled one-third of Sri Lanka's territory, had their own sizeable army and navy, a nascent air force, courts, hospitals, global smuggling operations and liaison offices in 54 countries.

The group also pioneered or refined tactics subsequently adopted by other groups such as Hamas and Al Qaida. These include using suicide vests lined with explosives, recruiting female suicide bombers and targeting politicians.

Ironically, Prabhakaran's obsessive focus and unwavering drive for an independent Tamil state may have left his supporters behind where they were when he launched the Tigers in the 1970s. "When you look at it from a historical standpoint, it was kind of pointless," said Anita Pratap, author of "Island of Blood," one of the few people to interview Prabhakaran.

From an early age, Prabhakaran was obsessed with secrecy-on leaving home at 18 he reportedly burned all family photos of himself-and maintained extensive safeguards as the organization grew.

Prabhakaran rarely slept in the same jungle hideout two nights in a row, employed a three-tiered body guard system, hired doubles and removed or killed those who displayed even a hint of disloyalty.

"I would prefer to die in honor rather than being caught alive by the enemy," Prabhakaran said in a 1984 interview.